Today, companies apply multiple forms of security to protect network functions, including data and applications. The IEEE 802.1 SECURITY TASK GROUP is developing protocols to secure local area networks (LANs). One set of protocols is referred to as IEEE 802.1AE MEDIA ACCESS CONTROL SECURITY (MACSec). MACSec integrates security protection into wired Ethernet to secure LANs from security breaches. Such protection extends to passive wiretapping, man in the middle and denial of service attacks. In doing so, the IEEE 802.1AE Standard helps avoid disruption to Ethernet networks by protecting LAN devices from unauthorized communication.
MACSec will be used in environments where the size and power dissipation of security processing elements is a design concern. Security processing may constitute a large portion of a chip die, as well as a disproportionately large portion of the chip power dissipation. Power dissipation consists of two components, dynamic power consumption and leakage power. Dynamic power consumption is due to clock tree dissipation and transition propagation.
With die size being a premium in today's markets and power consumption being such a big concern, particularly in today's mobile environments, a MACSec design is desired that enables processing of packets to occur quickly, while reducing overall power consumption.